The Master's Level 1 Swatch #4

I'm coming to the conclusion that I will never pass Level 1 in the Master's.  Oh, I'll keep going since I will learn a lot, but I have certainly given up any hope of passing.  I find that when I am trying to knit the swatches I get all focused and tense and all I can think of is all the places that I could make this horrible, very bad, never be able to fix it right mistake and then I will have to do the swatch all over again and it will be some weird Ground Hog Day nightmare over and over and over again.  About this time I'm binding off  Swatch #4 and have some kind of "out of body" experience because I suddenly have this weird extra bar thing on the back and I have no idea where that came from so there I am frogging the bind off and back knitting to where I some how dropped a damn stitch. You would think I might notice dropping a stitch, but noooooo.   Temporarily abducted by aliens can be the only explanation.

Over thinking gets me in trouble in the saddle as well.  My trainer has been giving me and ole nimble toes an exercise where we have to back up in a "U" shape.  Don't think about it, just do it.  Yea...right!   This sounds a whole lot easier than it is and being the slightly dyslexic and spatially challenged person I am this is tough.  It is also tough for ole nimble toes because backing requires the horse to back up using his feet diagonally.  You would think it is like walking, only backwards, but it isn't.  It is the same foot placement as the trot going forward.  So, you are sort of trotting backwards at a walk pace and doing a U in reverse. The horse has to figure out what to do with his feet, not ole nimble toes strongest suit.  Standing around hoping someone will give him a peppermint is more his style. 

So asking ole nimble toes to go backward when he can manage to fall over his own feet just trying to walk forward is a tough one.  We managed to get only two correct steps in all the attempts.  Lesley, the trainer, thinks this is good for me because I can't over think it, I just have to do it.  Gets me out of my head.

What does this have to do with knitting?  I just finished my second go at Swatch #4 and blocked it - Blech.  I start over thinking all this stuff and the next thing I know I am so focused on my knitting and my shoulders are up under my ears.  Sigh...oh for the happy ignorance of "just knitting". 

I even bought the signature needles and I am probably the only one on the planet that thinks they are ugly.  I don't like their loud, carnival colors, they compete with the yarn and I don't like it.  I like black, with occasional wild and crazy forays into beige.  My horse is black, my cat is black and my dog is actually sort of grey except for her four buff (think beige) legs.  I realize I am not the norm. So I don't like the colors of the signature needles, but agree they do knit nicely and others probably love the colors.  Lol...I just noticed the yarn I picked out is beige, yep I was just thinking it was light colored and I couldn't use black. 

I did this sweater several years ago, happily knitting on some size 8 ebony needles from Lantern Moon.  The whole thing was a 2x2 rib.

 I don't think it's all that terrible tension wise, but I what do I know, I wasn't over thinking the whole thing - as I have said before: ignorance is bliss.